The Continuing Adventure of An Afflicted
by Corran Beta
Summary: A new adventure starring Derek the Haunted a former Afflicted sufferer from Shing Jea Island and Dokk - the bad tempered Asura.  Together they make a journey into the South of Cantha to try to forge an unlikely peace between old adversaries...
1. Chapter 1

**The Adventures of An Afflicted**

The Canthan Collision Saga

The Recap:

Derek the Haunted, once a Ritualist student of the famed Shing Jea Island Academy, is struck down with the deadly Affliction that sweeps Cantha upon the return of Shiro. When Shiro is defeated, Derek's mind is restored, but his body remains Afflicted.

He journeys across the lands of Tyria in the hopes of finding a cure. Along the way he meets an Asura called Dokk who travels with him. They fight their way from Cantha, to Elona against the tyrannical Sunspears, confront Shiro and the Lich and finally adventure into the Asura lands far north.

Once there, Derek is given a reverse engineered Totem of Man, which restores his human body to him. We left the pair at the shores of Kaineng city, looking across the water at Shing Jea Island, former home for Derek, who has decided after everything, not to go home.

**This is the Continuing Adventures of An Afflicted:**

"You are brought here on charges of the most heinous crimes," the Luxon judge declared authoritatively, capturing the full attention of the gathered crowds.

I wasn't overly concerned to be honest; I just had a feeling that things were going to work out somehow, despite the dubious circumstances.

"Murder!" declared the judge. "Indeed, mass murder!"

With that proclamation, the crowd roared in fury, which didn't do my strange sense of okay-ism any good at all. There were a lot of them here – it seemed like all of them. Even the dead ones had managed to turn up, albeit in boxes which were draped in red cloth, the colour of choice for the Luxon Armada.

The judge continued; "You are charged with conspiring against the Luxon people with our oldest enemies the Kurzicks." At the mention of the word Kurzick, the crowd hissed and booed like children at a puppet show.

"You," the judge – bearing in mind that this guy was supposed to be impartial until the case was heard – continued, "led our forces into a trap and murdered them in cold blood."

More booing.

"Pleading guilty will not save you," the judge added, a little more quietly, but with such venom I felt the hairs on my neck rise up in cold fear.

I spared a half seconds glance at the small creature that had been my companion these last two years; he stared fixedly ahead, radiating a growing anger that I knew would soon burst into flames.

Before that happened, I had to try and plead our case and hopefully cool the whole thing down. I cleared my throat and the booing erupted anew. We were in a large bowl like arena, hemmed in by steep walls of towering jade and the sound of those boo's seemed to echo all around.

I tried to speak again, but the noise drowned me out. The judge stared at me, almost daring me to try to speak, to defend what had happened.

So I did. And this is what I told them:

As eternally grateful as I am to the Asura and Norn for finding a solution to my Affliction, I really wish they'd told me that the reverse engineered 'Totem of Man' spell didn't last forever.

I'd been stood with my companion Dokk, staring out from the dockyard of Kaineng City at my former home on Shing Jea Island across the water and hadn't realised that the Totem had expired.

Oh the fuss it caused.

Dockyard workers screamed in panic and ran around like lunatics as they looked upon my bloated afflicted body in its transformed state.

Like a fool I spent a few minutes running around trying to convince them it was all fine, until I realised that the lumbering strides I was taking, weren't those of a human man, but belonged instead to an Afflicted.

I have honestly never seen a place empty so quickly.

With a quick chant I recast the Totem on myself and sure enough I returned to my original form. To be honest there wasn't much special about me, I am a tall male Ritualist with a very standard little beard, but it's one hell of an improvement on the face of an Afflicted. I was so glad to glance my true reflection again.

"I should probably tell you," Dokk started to say in his squeaky small voice, "the Totem of Man doesn't last forever."

I looked at him with disgust. "You don't say?" I asked sarcastically. "Why you couldn't have told me before…" I trailed off as I saw a company of men wearing the red armour of the Imperial Guard marching sternly towards Dokk and me.

I saw the Asura tense and he drew his staff forward, a little wisp of flame tracing through the air ahead of us.

"Lower your weapon," one of the guards told Dokk in a commanding voice.

"Yours first," Dokk replied referring to the host of swords that were unsheathed in unison by the highly trained Imperial guards.

The guard smiled and said, "You are under arrest in the name of the Emperor."

"Okay," I tried to say soothingly. "Maybe there's been just a tiny, little misunderstanding here…"

Suddenly the guard thrust his sword at me, stopping his blade far too close to my recently re-humanised nose. "Silence," he snapped. "You will accompany us to the Emperor and say no more."

"No more," Dokk chirped childishly prompting the sword to swing threateningly towards his small head. "Try it Bookah," the Asura stupidly baited the soldier, his grip tightening visibly on his staff.

With a sigh the guard surprised me and put away his sword simply saying, "Oh forget it, just follow me."

The rest of his squad sniggered at their Captain, who had been so easily overruled by the little man from the north. Four of the men moved in behind us and the Captain spun on his heel with a glance of hatred at Dokk and began a quick pace towards the Imperial Palace.

As we were marched away, I leaned towards Dokk and said, "Listen pal, you've got to learn to shut your mouth when someone sticks a sword in your face."

The Asura turned to regard me curiously. "I bow to your expertise in such matters Bookah," he told me with a courtesy bow and a grin on his long face.

I sighed, shrugged my shoulders, shut up and kept walking.

With our escort of Imperial Guards and a strange sense of impending doom, we entered Kaineng Centre.

A line of henchmen stood by the door, as they often did in places like this, hoping to pick up an adventure and of course, a share in someone's loot. We were waved past them and up the stairs ahead.

To the right, there were two men, one Luxon and one Kurzick, judging by their clothes, shouting bad poetry at each other and anyone who might be listening. I picked out the line; "through stone trees, unmoved by breeze" from one and "beneath frozen waves, entombed in jade," from the other.

I gave up listening to it. When were they going to get over it, I wondered.

We moved quickly past and round a corner to the private entrance to Raisu Palace. The guards pressed onward into the chamber of the Emperor himself.

As we entered the chamber, I saw him ahead, the Emperor Kisu.

The guards all bowed reverently and I did likewise. Dokk however, stayed firmly on his feet.

"Dokk," I hissed a whisper at him. "That's the Emperor of Cantha. Bow you hobgoblin."

The Asura didn't acknowledge my plea, but instead stepped forward towards the ruler of Cantha and demanded, "Why have you sent your goons out after us?"

"We're dead," I said in a hoarse whisper, which drew a laugh from ahead of me.

"You are indeed quite alive, Derek the Haunted," the Emperor said directly to me with a smile on his face. "And my goons, as you call them, have brought you to me at a perilous time for the Empire."

I thought I was going to throw up; the Emperor was talking directly to me. "Rise, son of the Dragon Empire," he commanded me.

Getting up off of my knee, I faced the man who led my entire home nation.

The Emperor turned to Dokk now. "You are a friend of Cantha too, Dokk the Asura. If that is what you choose to be," he said still smiling, but with a hint of threat in his voice.

"You have been summoned here because there is a great matter to attend to in the South of Cantha. Since you departed these shores, the Luxons and Kurzicks have been attempting to negotiate a peace treaty," the Emperor announced grandly.

"So, what do you want from me?" Dokk asked impertinently.

The Emperors smile faded. "This request is for you both. Your journeys have led you all over the lands of this world and you have survived in places where others have perished. You are respected throughout the lands and you may just have that extra special something, to make a lasting peace."

I was about to pipe up and say something, but the Emperor put up a hand to stop me and said, "I hereby decree; you are Ambassadors of the Dragon Empire and command you to help us. Though I still hope you will go in friendship."

"Of course," I began only to be silenced by Dokk.

"I have pressing matters of my own to attend," he said rudely. "I have no interest in this," he added and turned to leave.

At his attempted exit, all the guards stood and drew swords on the Asura, who looked about ready to start fighting back.

"Unfortunately," the Emperor began, "I didn't actually say that you have a choice boys. We need you, so you either go with the blessings of myself or you can enjoy a long stay in a prison mining Jade for the rest of your days."

My jaw dropped in shock. I'd always thought of Kisu as a benevolent ruler, but then I'd been taught that Shiro was a tyrant, until I'd met him and he'd helped us escape from those detestable Sunspears in Elona.

"I guess you never really know anyone until you meet them," I said with a glare in the Emperors direction.

He smiled softly then. "I'm sorry to force you in this way son, but with all the proper heroes off in North Tyria fighting Destroyers, I really have to work with what I've got."

The judge wasn't impressed by my storytelling so far.

I could tell because he threw a sizable piece of Jade at my head, which drew a trickle of blood, and yelled, "Get on with it!"

With a rub of my rapidly bruising eyebrow, I did continue…if only to survive a few more minutes before we were sentenced to death.

A day after our ill run meeting with the Emperor, we were ready to move out.

Dokk and I were given a couple of tamed Kirin's to ride on and a small company of guards to take us to the borders of the city.

"Remind me," Dokk said as he attempted yet again to mount his Kirin, "why did we come back here?"

"Well," I began thoughtfully, "I was coming home and then decided I couldn't go back to the Island while my ex was shacked up with the man I previously considered my best friend. And you decided to abandon your life and your people in favour of doing, I quote 'something else.'"

The Asura stopped struggling up his horse just long enough to meet my gaze. "Fine," he said at me, then mumbled something that sounded like "Bookah."

I hopped down off of my horse and gave Dokk and unwelcome shove up on to his saddle. "I did not need assistance," he told me defiantly.

I shrugged and smiled sarcastically at him. "Well luckily for you I'm here to help even when you're too stubborn to want me to," I said and hopped back on to my Kirin.

We had opted out of an escort from the Imperial Guard at Dokks request, so off we set, alone but for our horse, into the murky city that had once seemed so full of promise and hope to me.

As we went I was filled with memories of my first time here. Back then there had been fireworks in the sky at the death of Shiro and I had been an Afflicted stumbling around trying to avoid getting killed by anyone who saw me.

Not much had changed, there were no fireworks now of course, my affliction had been more or less cured and I was still in the company of the crazy Asura I had sort of rescued all that time ago.

We'd gone a fair old way, when I realised that we'd started seeing less and less people on the streets, until suddenly the city was silent and dead around us. Only the breeze stirred amongst the abandoned houses and streets. Even of the occasional Am Fah there was not a glimpse.

Looking around I recognised a shop across the way with burnt out windows. Ominously, perhaps deliberately, a Wintersday hat was draped on one of the sills.

I pulled my Kirin to a stop and Dokk, with some difficulty, did the same. The horse like creatures didn't like this place too much. A sense of nervous expectation permeated the air and the silence around seemed suddenly to close in like an invisible vice.

"Forget about it Bookah," Dokk said with a hint of warning. "We need to carry on."

"I know, but I didn't bring any Snowman summoners," I told him and nudged my Kirin back into movement. "They've probably all gone away anyway, let's just keep going," I added, trying not to sound too nervous.

When the Kirin refused to move, a lance of fear shot through me. Dokk likewise couldn't convince his Kirin to advance a step further.

Their came a noise of scuttling, from atop the roof of the shop and a small cloud of dirt and rubble fell from above on to the street.

"Oh crap," I said quietly.

"We need to go now Bookah," Dokk said and I noted for what seemed like the first time, nervousness took hold of him.

There was no time to react properly though; the Kirin's bucked back at the same time, throwing us both on to the dirty floor. Within a second, they were running and then out of sight as if they'd never been there at all. I didn't consider it immediately, but all of our equipment and supplies went with them.

The scuttling noise from above got loader then a creepy, high-pitched laughter came from all sides. We were surrounded utterly I knew.

Fear was replaced by horror, as Grentches poured out from every available crevice. "Now we're dead," I told Dokk as the little creatures surrounded us.

We stood back to back facing as much of the horde as we could. We never stood a chance. They jumped as one, landing on us and flattening us both to the floor.

I struggled to fight them off and succeeded in clearing a few from my head and arms. As I tried to stand the last thing I saw, before the world went black, was a Grentch smiling manically before it hit me hard around the head with a candy cane.

"Wintersday Grentches?" The judge said with some level of distaste.

"Yes," I answered, noting that the crowds in the arena had actually quietened down a lot and were listening quite intently to my story rather than screaming obscenities at us.

With a loud sigh the judge went on; "What has this got to do with anything? You're supposed to be trying to beg for your life and here you are talking about Grentches and bloody Kirins."

"Well, I can stop the story and beg if you prefer?" I asked hopefully.

The judge shook his head irritably. "No, no that won't do, you've got us all interested now. We don't get many tales down this way that don't involve Carp. You'll just have to finish the story then we'll get on with the execut…I mean, the rest of the trial."

"Okay," I said a little reluctantly not liking the previous slip one bit. What had happened to that earlier feeling that somehow everything was going to be fine? This was the weirdest hearing ever, but the story was providing one thing, an extension of life. So on I went:

I awoke to more sounds of that freaky high-pitched laughter but also something far worse, a loud booming laughter that seemed to echo from a distant ceiling.

Without opening my eyes – once they were open the creatures would know I was back with them – I tried to assess the situation. I wasn't tied up, which was probably a good thing, but I was lying on cold hard stone.

Suddenly the booming laughter stopped. "I know that you're awake Derek the Haunted," the voice suddenly said with a hissing malice.

I pretended not to hear, didn't even stir a little, though my heart beat must have doubled its rate.

"Keeping your eyes shut will not save you or the Asura," the voice said again. "He's not going to last much longer," it added.

My eyes opened and I propped myself up with my elbows. "Where's Dokk?" I asked hurriedly. "If you've hurt…"

I was cut off by a small voice from my left, "I am fine Bookah and also touched by your concern for my health," Dokk said with a slight smile on his wide mouth.

The voice cut in. "You're not fine my little Asura. You're in the presence of a God."

"We have been here before," Dokk said unimpressed. "And I did not see any God's then, just a gate keeper with a bad attitude."

The Reaper, Grenths voice in the living land and indeed, the aforementioned gatekeeper, radiated anger. I mean literally, I could feel the hatred blowing out of it – my longish black hair blew about in the breeze emanating from the creature.

You can't see the faces, if indeed they have faces, but you do know when you've pissed one off and unfortunately, on our last visit here, we had made a monumental misjudgement and had done just that.

"Listen," I said started, trying to placate the creatures malice, "we didn't mean to be nasty or anything last time, we're misunderstood a lot you know?"

Dokk gave me a sideways look, that both asked what I was trying to accomplish and called me an idiot at the same time – what can I say, he's got talented eyebrows.

"I guess what I'm trying to say," I added, basically playing for time, "is that we really like you guys, it's just that your pretty damned scary you know?"

The Reaper paused. "Scary?" it asked in that horrifying hissing voice of its.

"Yeah, scary," I told him.

He seemed to consider this for a moment. "It's the cape and the hood isn't it?" the creature asked with a weary, defeated tone in its freaky voice.

"And all the talking of people being in trouble and dying and meeting their doom in the Underworld and stuff," I put in.

"Even I will admit that those things are off putting," Dokk piped up.

With that, the creature pulled his robes up and bit, revealing skeletal legs beneath and sat down heavily on the stone next to us.

There was a moment of silence, before the Reaper spoke. "You know how long I've done this?" it asked what I guessed was a rhetorical question. When neither of us answered, it carried on, "Four thousand three hundred and seventy two years."

I whistled, impressed and a bit scared.

"Yeah, a long time isn't it? Anyway, in all that time, you know how many days I've had off? None. Not one. Never called in sick, never come in late, even on my birthday or Wintersday."

"Sounds like you need some time off to me," I said encouragingly.

The Reaper shook its hooded head. "No, there's nobody to look after the portal to the Underworld."

"What about them?" I asked pointing at the Grentches.

30 minutes later, me and Dokk were on our way out of the door with the Reaper dragging along reluctantly behind us.

"You're sure they'll be alright?" it asked concerned about the Grentches and their abilities to guard the gate to the Underworld.

"They'll be fine, take some time off," I told it. "Have a rest, you've earned it," I added with a reassuring pat on a bony shoulder.

As I ushered the creature away, I glanced back at the Grentches who were throwing something at each other and at the shrine…I don't know what it was, I'm not thinking about it anymore.

And by the Gods, I didn't tell the Reaper.

From our unique position at the defence table, to which we were now chained, Dokk and I braced ourselves for more berating from the judge.

And we weren't left disappointed for long:

"What next? You're telling me that you convinced the Voice of Grenth to take a trip to the pub?" the judge demanded. "This story is getting ridiculous," he added, with a new level of fury in his voice.

"Ridiculous," Dokk spoke up, "but strangely true. This Bookah has a strange way with people and indeed extra-dimensional creatures."

"Silence Goblin!" the judge yelled at the little man from the far North.

Unwise even with Dokk chained up I felt, but Dokk surprised me by staying silent. Suddenly, that strange feeling of well being descended upon me again.

I dared to speak. "Listen judge, you wanted me to tell this tale. Now you either listen to me and take in what I have to say or kill us now," I said authoritatively. Dokk gave me a sideways glance and nodded approval. He had a plan, I suddenly understood.

With a reluctant sigh, the judge looked around. "Anyone left carpe cooking at home?" he asked the crowd. "Sorry, you might want to go put the ovens out, we're going to be here a while by the looks of things."

With that a few people slumped off. "Consider this a stay of execution, Haunted," the judge said with some of the venom back in his voice. "I've got other things to do this evening you know."

"Sorry, judge," I said with a sympathetic air. "If it's any consolation, we've got somewhere we need to be too."

At that the judge laughed bitterly. "We'll see where you two need to be very soon," he said glowering at us. "Okay, anyone need the bathroom, I know I do," he said to the crowd. "Court adjourned for five minutes while everyone goes and gets themselves sorted.

Soon most of the court was empty, except for me a Dokk who couldn't move due to the restrictive chains.

"So," I said in an excited whisper, "what's the plan?"

Dokk looked at me. "What plan?" he said, not bothering to whisper back and drawing the eyes of the remaining crowd to us.

"The plan, you know, getting out of here?" I said, persisting in my fruitless whispering.

"There is no plan," Dokk said loudly. "We will accept the consequences of the law," he added loudly, which gained him a few shouts of 'encouragement' from the crowd. I won't repeat what they actually said, but suffice to say it wasn't very approving.

I tried one last time to get through. "Dokk?" I whispered a hoarse plea.

Dokk then turned to me and did something unexpected - he winked. "Of course I have a plan Bookah, how could you doubt it?" he whispered back.

Somehow I wasn't sated though. A cold nervousness crept back in me. Did he have a plan? I don't know, who can tell what an Asura is thinking?

Another minute passed in silence before the judge returned to the podium and called the court back into order. "Now, then," he said with a twisted little smirk, "lets get this over with shall we?"

Okay, so we didn't actually go to the pub with the Avatar of Grenth, in fact he bailed and left Dokk and I to navigate the corridors of the Shenzun Tunnels alone. The only thing he left us with was this stark message:

"A twisted act of vengeance in the name of justice will deliver you to my master before too long." And with that he was gone.

Trust me when I say, that didn't go down too well for me and bears too much resemblance to our current predicament for comfort.

So, alone again, Dokk and I navigated the tunnels beneath the city which eventually lead us to the South Gate and out unto the pastures that spread out before the Echovald Forest and the Jade Sea, a choice between fear and death, or fear and death.

It was at the end of the tunnels that my Totem of Man expired and my body expanded out again into that hideous form again. I was just about to cast the spell once more, when Dokk stayed my bulbous hand.

"Look Fishman," he said pointing ahead. "More of your kind," he added impolitely while gesturing to a horde of Afflicted that were lurking outside in the fresh air.

" Oh that's just great," I said irritably. "How do we get by them?" I asked exasperated. What happened to my luck? I wondered.

That's when Dokk pulled something out of the bag. He attacked me.

"What are you doing?" I yelled as he struck a ball of fire at me.

"Die foul some demon," he yelled in his tiny voice at me and fired again and again with his staff blazing away.

"Dokk, what are you doing?" I yelled between yelps of pain as I failed to dodge the blasts of fire time and again.

"DIE!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, which I saw behind his little head drew the attention of the Afflicted in the field. They started running towards us.

I panicked and called forth the spirits of Pain, Bloodsong and Agony. They attacked Dokk. "Ow," he shouted. "You cannot defeat me," he yelled more and blasted Agony back into the ether.

Then pain hurled a flaring ball of light at Dokk and with it, the Asura fell to the floor dead.

By that time the Afflicted were upon us. They looked with what may have been contempt at the dead Asura and then at me. Another Ritualist was there. "GRRRRRRghhh!" it said to me in Afflicted speak.

"Uh, grrrrgh!" I said back unsteadily.

"Arrrgghhh!" it 'spoke' again.

"Yeah, arrrgghhh, grr argh!" I responded a little more surely. I then scooped up Dokks dead frame and held him in the air. "GRRRRRR, ARGH!" I yelled aloud and was greeted by a chorus of much more happy sounding replying grr's and argh's.

"I'll grr be arrgh, off then," I told them and started towards the exit, with Dokk in hand. The Afflicted moved aside to let me pass, giving me an appraising pat on the back or two on the way.

"Staff Fishman," I heard whispered from above me. When I looked at Dokk clutched in my monstrous talons, his eyes were shut and he'd stilled his breathing, but he was definitely alive.

"Grrrr," I said loudly, looking around me furtively at the creatures who still celebrated my 'victory' then followed with a whispered, "What?"

Dokk whispered back. "Get my staff Bookah."

"Oh, staff," I repeated loudly, then caught myself. "Staff ragh! Grrr," I added quickly and waddled back over to pick the tiny stick off of the floor.

The Afflicted were giving me what I can only call strange looks – even by their twisted up, bulging face standards, these were funny looks…then they charged.

I ran as fast as my wobbling legs would carry me, with Dokk still held above my head with my right hand and two staffs – one Dokks, one mine – in my left.

It was no good though; the Afflicted Assassins easily keep pace as we exited the tunnels into the bright daylight ahead. The assassins started slicing my back with their long dagger like arms, which wasn't too pleasant – sort of added intense pain to my already reeling senses that had been blinded when we'd emerged from underground.

"Throw me my staff," Dokk said from above me. So I did and instantly the sky filled with fire. The Assassins were quickly pummelled by the torrents of flames, which poured from the heavens.

I wanted to ask Dokk what spell he's cast, but a flaming meteorite almost pulverised me, as it landed less than a foot from my side and I totally forgot the question.

"Keep running," Dokk shouted above the noise as he shifted round in my grip to get a better aim at our foes.

I didn't have any intention of stopping as the fire arrows began whistling past my head. The Afflicted had rangers.

With what little breath remained me I called upon the spirit of Pain once again, but before it had a chance to draw a bead on our enemies it was stomped on by a burley Warrior Afflicted.

Somehow I kept running, though my lungs burned as I struggled for air. I wished that I was back in my human form, which was somewhat more robust and suited to this purpose than my Afflicted bulk.

We were slowly going uphill, with Dokk launching everything under the sun, possibly even the sun itself. I didn't realise that there was that much fire in the universe, but he kept up a near constant stream.

For my part, I threw a couple of spirits up that got crushed just as quickly as they arose, but I like to think they slowed the advance of our enemies a touch.

Then we drew near to the Yeti's that lived at the top of the hill. They didn't like what they saw, so they attacked everyone. Luckily for us, they concentrated primarily on the mass of Afflicted behind, giving me time enough to stop, put Dokk down and cast the Totem.

I was Derek again. Thank the Gods.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Adventures of an ****Afflicted**

The Canthan Collision Part 2

I was surprised by the rapt attention I was receiving from the audience in the Jade Arena. My story telling wasn't the most adept of course, but it did seem to be having the effect of keeping us alive, hopefully long enough for Dokk to action his master plan – assuming that he actually had one.

The judge eyed me evilly. "Don't stop you stupid man, this is just starting to pick up. Carry on, we haven't got all day and night," he said pointedly looking toward the darkening sky.

So on I went:

Dokk continued his rain of flames upon the Afflicted and I threw up some feeble spirits, which made me realise I needed a better skill set to survive out here. Luckily for us both, the Yeti had gotten themselves seriously entangled in the fight and the Afflicted were starting to take casualties from the hairy creatures.

They must have heard the fighting, because before I knew it, several men came running down the hill shouting at the Afflicted with curses that would make a Norn blush. They stopped level with me and Dokk on the hill and began adding to the firestorm Dokk was wielding with a hail of arrows.

A couple of the men drew huge swords and ran headlong into the fray. How did they not get burned by Dokks flames I wondered? But unaffected by the searing heat down the hill they hacked and hewed away at the Afflicted and before I knew it, the monsters were in retreat.

I turned and saw that the Yeti has been wiped out completely and felt a pang of sadness that we'd brought death upon them by leading the Afflicted this way. But on the bright side, we were alive so that was good.

At least until one of the swordsmen, maybe the leader I guessed pointed his blade at Dokk and said, "Run along and join your friends little creature." With that he drew back his arm looking ready to strike.

Dokk sighed. "All of your kind are so equally ridiculous aren't they Bookah," he said whilst simultaneously using his staff to bat the sword away and striking the wielder hard across the bridge of the nose.

Blood splattered and the swordsman dropped his blade to the floor, reeling away in pain. "Oh crap," I said mostly to myself as the man's comrades started ominously drawing recently re-sheathed weapons.

"You're under arrest," one of them declared loudly and he put an arrow to the string of his bow.

Dokk glared at him. "I would like to see that happen," he said angrily.

Trying to intervene, lest we go from one fight to another, I pleaded, "He didn't mean it. Your friend with the sword scared him that's all."

Dokk snorted derision.

"Shut up," I said tensely in his direction. "We're on orders from the Emperor," I declared hoping that we might be spared in Kisu's name – after all it was his fault that we were here.

All four of the men laughed at that, even the bleeding one who had by now reclaimed his sword and held it extended ready for a fight once again.

"Ridiculous," Dokk said with a sneer.

The man, obvious unlearned his brutal defeat just moments earlier and yelled a loud, wordless bellow of rage as he ran at Dokk, who sidestepped easily and brought the staff down hard on the mans head as he raced by.

"Preposterous," Dokk added as an after thought.

"Enough," shouted the hooded man with the bow. "One more move and it'll be your last."

Instinctively I put my hands in the air and even Dokk settled from his guarded stance a little.

"Now," the bow man began slowly, "I doubt that two such as you would be travelling under the Emperors orders, so truthfully now, what brings you to the realm of the Luxons so armed?"

I started, "We are on a diplomatic miss…"

"You are spies of the Kurzicks!" the man with the bloodied face yelled cutting me off.

Dokk growled a low menacing noise that shut him up pretty quick.

"We're not spies," I answered a little more diplomatically. "We are here for a meeting between your people and the Kurzicks, to over see what could be a lasting peace in the name of the Emperor."

The four were quiet for a moment and looked at each other meaningfully but without words. Then the man with the bow asked; "Where is this meeting exactly then?"

"It's at the Harvest Temple," I answered quickly.

"Interesting," the bow man said, I had by this point figured out that he was the leader rather than the burly warrior, who was just dragging himself from the grass, whilst keeping a watchful eye on Dokk.

"Excuse us for one moment would you boys?" the Bow man asked very politely. I nodded in confirmation and the group huddled together and started an inaudible whispering. There was the worrying occasional chuckle that went through the group.

"What do you think they are talking about?" I asked Dokk in a whisper of my own.

He sneered. "Probably the best way to cook us," he said back tersely but not too loudly.

Finally, the men turned back to us. The bow man spoke again; "We have decided that you may pass on into the Jade Sea," he said grandiosely

"Thank you..." I began, but he raised a hand to silence me.

"No thanks are warranted, son" he said sternly. "Your journey through the city was an easy one compared to what awaits in the Jade Sea, but if we meet again, we may be willing to aid your cause in reaching the Harvest Temple."

"Really?" I asked unsure. "That would be great," I added with a chirp of optimism.

"Perhaps this was an unfortunate introduction for you to the Luxons," he said. "We have not done ourselves proud by contesting with strangers, but these are dark days and trust is hard to come by. I hope you find more welcome in the Jade Sea and if we indeed cross paths again, it could prove well for you son."

I nodded, not really getting what he was saying to be honest, but just wanting to be gone from their presence; I found it unlikely that we would want to meet these guys again.

"Farewell for now then stranger," the bow man said.

And with those words, the four of them marched off down the hill, leaving us to continue on into the land of the Luxons.

"You didn't ask their names?" the judge asked me with a puzzled look on his face.

"Didn't think to," I said honestly. "I just wanted to get away from them."

"Hmm," he replied noncommittally, but I had to note, much less murderously than the normal grunting noises he threw my way.

"Get on with it," he said casually.

We made headway pretty quickly into Luxon territory; we managed to buy in a few much needed supplies in Boreas Seabed and even spent a less cold than usual night there in a rented hut.

It had been about three days since we'd set out from Kaineng, and with the various detours, neither of us had slept so it was nice to rest properly for the first time in relative safety after being on the evil road south.

When we set out in the morning, we passed from the green hills into an incredible land. A land where the sea had been turned to Jade, hence the name – what had it been called before that I wondered? The Sea, I guessed, probably incorrectly.

Waves eternally frozen in translucent green glory forever more towered above our heads looking like they would break upon us at any instant, though they never would. It was an awesome place to stand, but I was becoming aware of the time constraints set by the Emperor. We only had four days left until the meeting and we weren't exactly making great time.

So, we continued walking…and walking. Creatures – all sorts of piscine based life forms crawled and floated over the waves, some regarded us strangely, others ignored us altogether. Eventually we were channelled up a bank and back into the hills.

That was when we saw the Naga.

Now growing up on Shing Jea Island I'd seen Naga before, basically man sized snake creatures with weapons. Now the ones I grew up with weren't quite as big as these ones, but a Naga's a Naga I figured, so on we walked ignoring them…until they attacked.

I laughed dismissively and summoned up a spirit or two to take care of them and watched in horror as the beasts growled and hissed angrily, then smushed the poor souls back to the Underworld.

"I suck!" I yelled angrily as I watched the spirits disappear so easily.

Dokk chuckled briefly, and then muttered "Finally he learns."

I ignored the little bastard as he stepped forward brashly and began to mercilessly pound the enemy with flares of brilliant fire while I traipsed silently behind him.

To my great surprised, the Naga weren't dismayed by the impressive showing from Dokk, if anything they seemed to redouble their assault based on how much of a pounding Dokk gave to them. The more he fought, the harder they pushed.

Eventually this stunning fact seemed to become clear to the little man. "Sometimes," he began between blasts of furious flame, "a withdrawal can be advantageous."

My turn, I thought harshly. "You're saying that you want to run away?" I yelled out as I summoned up a fresh couple of spirits to cover our retreat should it occur.

Dokk didn't turn – a sure sign that this was getting bad – as he said, "Yes Bookah, time to leave."

I fired some weak magic from my staff as Dokk began to summon the meteorites from the skies.

The Naga panicked for a moment as the flaming clunks of rock smashed down around them and the distraction was all we needed.

"Come along Fishman," Dokk said as he began sprinting his little legs off away from the Snakelike Naga. Without too much laughing at the little goblin as he ran for it, I sprinted after him catching him quickly.

"Want a lift?" I shouted across to him above the sound of his heavy breathing – we'd only got to the top of a hill and he looked out of it.

"Well," he huffed back, "you are certainly no good at being the brains of this outfit so you might as well try to be the brawn. You should have been a warrior," he puffed at me knowing full well my opinion on warriors.

Before I could yell something back, he'd done a crazy hop action, spring jump on to my back and I was running for us both.

A lot of our time was spent like that in the land of the Luxons and mutant fish creatures. We spent a lot of time running and fighting against creatures. We came to outposts with people who wouldn't let us in so we had to resort to sleeping under rocks and up trees to avoid the myriad of creatures who wanted us to die.

"I feel sooo terrible for you," the judge sneered. "But I can't help but notice that you haven't even mentioned the murders you are charged here with."

"Just around the corner now judge," I said with a smile.

"It better be boy I'm getting tired of waiting," he snarled back with a threatening glance at a small heap of Jade rocks he'd had an aide bring to him during a quiet point.

Of murder and accidents:

Many people die, some of them through incidents of foolishness, some of them through no fault of their own only the mishap of chance that one day and confused beast stomps along and kills them. Mind that beast. What beast? Dead.

The latter is what got me and Dokk into our currently imprisoned predicament – a massive beast.

So after three whole days being what you could only describe as 'lost' in the wilderness of the Jade Sea, with monsters of all origins chasing, attacking and harrying us, it came as a relief when a passing traveller told us we were going in the right direction.

"Over that way chums," the cloaked old man (for an old man he seemed, with long beard the only discernable thing poking out from beneath the hood of the robe.) he pointed into the far distance answering the question I'd yet to ask.

"Thank you, kind sir," I said with a slight bow and suspicious look behind. I was waiting for more Naga attacks, or floating squid or floating jellyfish or any other thing that wanted to dispose of me and Dokk.

We began away from the old man when he suddenly said, "Of course, you'll have a time getting by the dragons."

As one we turned. "Dragons?"

"Dragons?" the old man repeated curiously. "Who sent you down here without a mention of the Dragons I wonder?"

I fought the urge to mention Kisu by name, but quite fancied killing the Emperor right about then. "Someone who needed something done," I replied cryptically.

"Ah Kisu," the man said drawing the obviously desired freaked out look from me and just a small sigh from Dokk. "News travels fast round these parts son," the old man said soothingly

"Of course," he began again after a short pause, "the Dragons will eat your bones, if the Afflicted don't get you first. There are lots of them down that way don't you know?"

"Great," I said starting a little panic.

"Oh don't worry son," the old man started before Dokk jumped in.

"No, do not worry Bookah, this old man has a way to help us," the Asura said with a grimace.

"How did you know?" the old man asked with a laugh. "I understand your suspicions," he added, "but you're really not in a position to turn down assistance when it is offered."

Dokk growled, "And what assistance is it you offer?"

The man laughed again. "I need a favour, if you would be so kind. This," he said point to what I had thought was a massive rock, until I realised that the odd protrusions on it were in fact flippers and a head, "is Creaky." The old man patted a hand on the giant stone creature.

"What is it?" I asked fearfully.

"Why it's a siege turtle of course," the old man said with a light tone.

Without prompting he began pointing out various bits and bobs which has been cleverly crafted on to the enormous creatures shell, including an impressive looking cannon mounted on top.

"So, what do you think?" he asked pointing out various implements of war as he listed the myriad benefits of owning a siege turtle "round these parts."

"It's amazing," I said in real awe.

"She is amazing," the old man corrected with emphases on the 'she'.

"Sorry," I said.

"What is it you want?" Dokk questioned abruptly.

The old man turned to the Asura. "Okay, this is the deal," he started, "you take old Creaky here to the Harvest Temple for me and deliver her to some people at the far end. That way I get out of making the delivery and you get a more hassle free ride past all the dragons etc. Got it?"

"That sounds like a great deal to me," I jumped in before Dokk could ruin it for us with one of his unnecessary, customary heavy handed rebukes.

Dokk stood stern faced as the old man clapped me on the shoulder and said, "Wise choice son. Wise choice."

Weirdly, driving the turtle wasn't as hard as I'd figured.

With a few moments practice, Dokk and I both had the hang of manoeuvring the gigantic creature, Dokk with much more ease that me once again though – which he took careful delight in dropping into conversation.

The old man bid us farewell and began trundling off in the opposite direction from where he'd pointed us towards the Harvest Temple and what I hoped was an end to this nonsense journey.

"So my little friend," I spoke to Dokk, "any last derogatory things you'd like to say before we set off to the temple?"

Dokk set an offended look on his face. "It is never my objective to belittle you in anyway my friend," he said with some shock.

I almost opened my mouth to apologise before he added, "I simply aim to teach in the hope that you will learn to be better."

He turned from me at that point and I raised a fist behind his back, strangling the desire to strangle him before I acted on the impulse. Self righteous little swine!

Instead of murder, I opted simply to say, "On that friendly note, let's get under way." And so we did.

Journeying on the siege turtle is definitely preferable to walking through the Jade chasms on foot that is for sure. Some Naga we came across got a good look at the beast and turned their slithering hides away quick smart.

It was like that for the whole day, creatures just running away from us as we lumbered along through the lands swaying non-too gently from side to side on 'Creaky.' We got to understand where the name Creaky came from, as the creatures strides each seemed to be accompanied by a strange creaking noise.

By nightfall, we dismounted and sequestered ourselves under a frozen breaker. As we sat, Creaky sat too and made soft moaning noises.

"I think this turtle is broken," Dokk said dismissively.

"Well," I started, "she certainly seems to be glad of the rest." I patted the turtle on her massive shell and incidentally caught a gleam of orange light near her knee.

"Dokk, look at this," I said as I knelt down at Creaky's side. Dokk came over to investigate.

As we looked closer, it became clear that somehow, somewhere along her journeys in her unknown past, Creaky had gotten a piece of Amber stuck in underneath her shell.

"That's what was causing the creaking," I said as we tried uselessly to pull loose the tightly wedged rock.

"Why would this turtle have been near Amber?" Dokk asked with a little concern in his voice. "There is a lot of Jade around here, but I know of only one place from which Amber is extracted and that is the forest," he added.

"You think this turtle went to the forest, with all the Kurzicks?" I asked confused.

Dokk answered cryptically, "That, or maybe we were meant to think she did."

Without further elaboration, Dokk set about removing the stone, with some mild grumbles of complaint from Creaky as it clearly irritated, even hurt, the turtle to move it.

It took a further ten minutes of wriggling to get the amber free from its wedged position in the turtles shell, but eventually he did it – with me holding my staff as a torch light for him to work with.

When the chunk of amber came loose, Creaky made a happy gurgling sound, got up and then stomped around us in a circle before sitting down and wagging her flippers.

"I think she likes us now," I said with a smile to Dokk.

"Good," Dokk replied inspecting the amber and not really paying attention as I fussed about the turtle, stroking her head as she lolled her tongue and fell asleep.

"You okay?" I asked Dokk.

He glanced up at me and said, "Fine Fishman, I just think that we need to be careful from here on. I do not believe in chance, this amber was put here for a reason.

"By kurzicks?" the Judge asked.

"At the time," I replied, "I was non the wiser and equally as disbelieving as you."

"I doubt that," the Judge sneered. "Either way it seems suspicious that you disposed of the only evidence that could have saved your hides."

"At the expense of implicating the Kurzicks," Dokk piped in surprising me.

"Why do you sympathise with them so much?" the judge asked. "Or perhaps it is because you are a spy yourself as we figured," he added.

"Get on with it!" he shouted when no reply was forthcoming. We'd implicate ourselves what ever was said apparently.

Paranoia not withstanding, we set out for the last leg of the journey the following morning.

By the time normal people would be having breakfast, we could see the Harvest Temple in the distance. "There it is," I exclaimed to Dokk, giving Creaky – whose name now seemed inappropriate, as she moved quicker and without the 'creaking' since we'd removed the suspicious lump of amber a pat on the shell.

Ahead a tall building could be seen poking a pointed roof up above the frozen waves. Now we just had to find a way to get to it. "We need a new name for this turtle," I announced as we plodded onwards.

Dokk turned with a smile and said, "How about Shelly?"

My mouth dropped in awe. "Was that a…a joke?" I asked with a smile of my own. "Good Gods man, I've never heard you joke before."

"I am glad you approve Fishman," Dokk said.

"What do you think Shelly?" I shouted down to the turtle, who made a strange grumble that I choose to perceive as acceptance. "I think she approves too Dokk, onwards!"

We moved on through the waves and saw various groups of creatures, most notably an increase in the amount of Afflicted. There were indeed also Dragons, as the strange man had predicted – but they saw Shelly and flew high above us and out of range of her cannon.

We passed through a settlement, much to the awe of its inhabitants, with dragons flying wide circles above us as we went on our very own siege turtle – what a sight we must have been.

And so it was we arrived at the base of the tower that stands out in the sea, the Harvest Temple. It was a long way to the summit, were we had missed the start of the meeting by at least a day according to our schedule, but we'd made it all the way, which hadn't seemed likely a short time before.

That was when the craziness began.

It didn't look like much at first, but slowly a thin trail became visible in the air, almost like a wisp of cloud, but rising upwards.

Soon the wisp became more steady and it became obvious that we were looking at a smoke trail, leading up into the sky from about three quarters of the way up the building.

We shuffled along for a moment, but then suddenly Shelly stopped in her tracks and stared intently ahead at the rising smoke.

I remember a rumble from beside me, then a loud boom.

Staring straight ahead immobilised with shock, I watched as a lump of jade, smashed into the side of the tower, destroying part of the ancient structure. Smoke began billowing out of the hole it made.

However riveted I was to the destruction, from the corner of my eye I glanced movement and caught sight of a cloaked person shaped object running away from the bottom of the tower.

Another rumble shook my bones and a boom detonated so close by I felt my brain shaking around inside my skull. Once again, a chunk of jade sailed into the structure.

It was then that the "Siege" part of the name Siege Turtle became clear to me. Shelly had opened fire from the massive cannon on her back and she was targeting the Harvest Temple.

I could see at the top of the tower, some men had run to side and were frantically shouting. I heard clearly the words, "Kurzicks are attacking!" weirdly the shout was very loud and it didn't seem to come from above.

Without hesitation I tried to shout at Shelly to stop, but she continued to pound the building with lumps of jade.

Within a minute of the attack commencing, the ancient building was swaying dangerously. And people were falling from the precipice. I manage to summon some spirits, which broke the falls saving some lives, but there was nothing that I could do but watch as the tower itself just sort of flopped over and crashed into the frozen waves.

The men who I'd save – now easily identifiable as Luxons got themselves up and looked back in horror at the smashed tower.

Sort of ironically, once the Harvest Temple was little but old rubble, Shelly stopped firing. I didn't have time to wonder why she had started before the stunned Luxons turned their amazement to anger and then aimed it at us.

Not for the first time since we'd entered this greenish blue land a host of weapons were drawn against us…

"Finally," the Judge said pointing an accusing finger at me, "I can fill in the rest of the story from here Haunted and adjust the nonsense out of it!" he yelled.

"Four weeks ago we received envoy from the Emperor telling us that the Kurzicks had decided to surrender and that the terms were to be negotiated at the tower in the sea. Our scouts – the men you tried to murder – went on ahead and can you guess what they found?"

I shrugged slightly and the crowd suddenly started murmuring consent at the Judge. Things had turned from bad to painful in an instant.

The Judge continued, "Our scouts found nothing, no sign of Kurzicks. So they waited for one day and then you were spotted coming in on a siege turtle. They waited for your arrival of course, assuming that you were Luzons."

"Okay," I chipped in, "so our stories agree…"

"I'll be the Judge of that," he snapped back. "By all accounts a man in a cloak was seen with several others running into the forest before you commanded the turtle 'Shelly' – you morons – to open fire and destroyed a priceless monument to the past."

"But," I tried to defend us, but got shouted down by a voice I didn't expect.

"But you instead conspired with the enemy of the Luxons," came the voice from behind me. "You disobeyed my orders and attempted to seal a victory against these good people, which would give lordship of these frozen waters to the Kurzicks."

Slowly, shocked to our cores, Dokk and I turned as one to face our new accuser…Emperor Kisu!

"Impossible," I said through a gulp of shock.

Dokk looked angry and i'm glad he was disarmed before we'd been brought here.

"Not impossible Derek," Dokk said coldly. "Is it 'son'?" he asked pointedly at the Emperor.

Kisu laughed off the allegation and turned his back on us. "Feed the traitors to the carpe Judge," he said dismissively. "We must prepare the armies for the campaign ahead," he added.

"What armies?" I asked reflexively.

To my surprise the Emperor turned back. "Well, I suppose it can't hurt to tell seeing as you'll be fish food in an hour or two," he said gloating. "The Luxon people won't let this act of treachery go unpunished," the crowd roared with delight when he said this and it took a moment for the noise to die down.

With the blessing of the United Dragon Empire, the Luxons will make war on the  
>Kurzicks and tomorrows victory at the Lamp Oil fields will be the first of many." The crowd roared approval again.<p>

When they'd shut up a bit, I shouted furiously, "You're sending them to war for oil?"

The Emperor smiled. "Not for oil, for justice. For all the lives taken by the terrorist Kurzicks. Oil is just handy for the lamps to light up that dark forest," he said.

"And for the heating in your palace," Dokk shouted back, incensing the already riotous crowd.

"You are going to lead these people to death for your own ends Kisu and we were pawns, you must see that," I said emotionally pleading to the crowd.

Of course that was when my affliction popped up.

As I turned into the monster, people screamed and panicked and ran from me stumbling over one another.

"Oh for Grenth's sake," I shouted irritated.

The Judge stepped back in then as I recast the Totem to humanise myself again.

"You are sentenced to death!" he yelled with delight in his voice.

The crowd hollered and stamped their feet in joy.

"If it's any consolation," he said as the noise lessened again, "you have put a smile on my face. Good bye Derek and Dokk, may you rot in the Underworld. Case closed. Guards, get these scum out of my sight."

Within moments we were scooped out of there by the court guard and there was nothing we could do. We were deposited in a large outside cell with guards outside and left there into the night.

The sky was dark as I stared upwards pondering the rapidly depleting remainder of my condemned life. In a way I was glad to have the end in sight. Things hadn't been good for me for a long time, but then was that more reason to stay here and try to make it right.

A million thoughts whirled in my head, a million futures – none with a  
>Derek the Haunted in them.<p>

"Derek," I heard Dokk say from next to me.

"Yes Dokk," I asked.

"I have no plan of escape," he said sounding smaller than I had ever heard him.

"Me neither," I admitted.

"I feel I should say this now, before time runs out," he started. "I didn't like you very much for a while."

I smiled. "Thanks. I didn't like you much either."

"Too stupid," he said referring to his opinion of me.

"Too arrogant," I replied with my initial assessment.

"But despite our early difficulties, I've come to…" he was cut off by a loud bang from a distance.

"Get down," I shouted as I heard the whistling of an object screaming through the air.

We jumped back in time to watch a mass of Jade smash through the doors of our cell, crushing the wood in an instant.

Turning to each other briefly, Dokk and I smiled. "Shelly," we said in unison. Then we were running out of the gap that used o be a door.

Sure enough, outside of the 'prison' there was Shelly.

As we ran to greet her out a hooded man stepped into view – not just any hooded man, the hooded man who had given us the turtle and the same one I had seen running from the base of the tower.

"Hurry, friends," he said in a low voice. "You must escape."

"You're not Kisu," I said stunned.

The man laughed. "Hardly," he replied. "But there is no time for this. You must leave, before you meet my master face to face."

I was about to ask who or what he meant, when he did something unexpected, he vanished completely.

"He's gone," I said stupidly staring.

"So must we become Bookah," Dokk said leaping up on to the massive shell before us. I clambered up more sheepishly and by the time Shelly had turned around to leave, we heard voices behind.

"Go, go, go," I shouted and the turtle lumbered into the darkness.

We were passing the gates back into the land of the Dragon Empire – our great betrayer when I foolishly looked back. There were turtles on our tail.

As we all but flew away from the edge of the Jade sea facing the city before us, the front runners of the Luxons armada behind us began to open ranged fire.

The arrows were snapped and broken on the Shelly's back without causing the turtle an ounce of bother, but they were too close now. Even if we would be safe in the city, which seemed unlikely, we wouldn't get there.

A moment of terror passed over me. But it was then that I was the shadowy shapes of huge men running up the hill towards us. Even in the darkness I could make out a greenish hue to their fuzzy outlines.

"Kurzicks!" I yelled, as the first of their Juggernaught warriors rushed past us and ploughed into the horde of Luxons behind. The fighting was intense.

We were out matched and didn't even really know which side was fighting for or against us we were just stuck weaponless in the middle of a war that had come up from nowhere.

Battering a path through the madness, Shelly marched us to the gates of the city in advance of the fighting hordes behind us, but due to hr massive size, she'd never fit through the entrance. We knew then that we'd have to go on without her.

"Shelly, I'm sorry but we have to go into the city to stop this anarchy at the source. You have to go," I said to our pet who had become our friend. Then we dismounted with a graceless slide to the floor.

"Go and be free," Dokk said with a hand on her shell.

Reluctantly Shelly grumbled then turned away, then back again.

"We'll come back for you when this insanity is over," I promised and with that she turned and marched solemnly away.

We watched as she nimbly – for a massive turtle – stepped around the fighting that was going epically on between the two factions, the surfers and the tree folk as I dubbed them in my mind. She kicked out a leg at one Luxon who tried to mount her and the guy flew through the air like an insect with no wings before crunching down in a smushed puddle of gore.

Without stopping, she slowly continued onwards until finally as Shelly disappeared into the distance we turned to face the city again. "We need to stop Kisu," I said to Dokk.

"Indeed Bookah," he agreed. "Or at the very least, book ourselves passage out of this insane land at the docks of Keineng," he added.

"Agreed," I replied. "Either way the road leads North. Lets go."

There was a moment as I stepped forward that vanished in the blink of an eye. Without warning a sharp pain went through my thigh and I stumbled, but kept myself from falling, just.

I span around as I went down and saw a Kurzick archer rapidly restringing a bow – which was how I figured I'd been shot. My response was I must say relatively devastating as I summoned forth the signet of spirits – a little skill I'd learned in the Jade Sea – and three spirits burst from the ground and began tearing chunks from the man.

It got messy.

"Oh, that's just wrong," I said aloud with a wince. "Dokk, did you see that? Signet of…" I trailed off as I turned to my companion…who was lying face down with an arrow prominently sticking from his back.

"Dokk," I yelled forgetting my own pain and crossing the short distance between us. Quickly I scooped him up into my arms – he felt colder than he should have.

With the Asura flopping limply over my shoulder I ran for all I was worth into the city. Mattu Keep was deserted – probably they had all rushed out into the fray outside.

I kept running, talking to Dokk the whole time. "Stay with me you weird little creature. Just hold on." That kind of thing!

On and on deeper into the city I ran, no response came from Dokk and he just got colder and colder. I was running, but my sense of direction disappeared altogether, I was in a panic unable to pick a clear path.

Eventually the pain in my leg got the better of me and I stumbled. We both hit the ground with a dull thud. It was then I realised that the swimming sensation in my head wasn't just shock, I was losing blood badly from the grizzly hole in my thigh.

I tried to pick myself up, but failed. For a moment I struggled but somehow it just seemed better to sleep. So I slept…

"Wake up Bookah," I heard the little man say before I opened my eyes.

I was in doors. In a large chamber by the feel of the breeze and the distance of the stone roof above me.

"Dokk?" I croaked hoarsely through a dry mouth.

"Your friend isn't with us," a deep voice said from far away.

I struggled to right myself and with the aid of some half seen bony arms, I was raised into a sitting position.

Eyes struggled to focus, but there was very quickly no mistaking where I was.

"Why am I here?" I asked still struggling to speak.

"Because you will need help," the deep voice answered.

"Help with what?" I asked again.

There was a pause, then the deep voice spoke again. "Your friend isn't with us," it said again.

"Then where..?" I started but didn't finish. I finally understood.

Dokk was dead!

It hit me like a ton of rocks to the head. I was swimming in a world of pain and anger and hatred and sorrow and fear in an instant. While I had carried Dokk it had never really occurred to me that he would go.

The Reaper allowed me a moment – for I was back amongst the statues of the Gods in the passages underground of Kaineng – before speaking again.

"There is always hope my friend," it began. "You helped me escape my duties and be free for the first time. It was I who helped you across your journey into the Jade, it was I who helped your escape from the prison.

And now I will offer your pained soul and chance you cannot hope for."

I looked at the Reaper then, his revelation not having the impact it would have under other circumstances. "What chance?" I asked a little impetuously. "What hope is there for this world where all of your heroes are your enemies?"

The Reaper looked at the statues that adorned the passage.

"And yet your experience must have taught you that those you think of as enemies, can sometimes be allies," the Reaper said in reference to Shiro I presumed.

I sighed unable to argue, save by one point, "Dokk is gone," I said miserably.

"Your friend now resides in the house of my master," the creature said.

I jumped to my feet. "Of course!" I declared excitedly and indeed beyond hope.

"Before you get too excited, he isn't alive, but waiting in the Underworld where great dangers and beasts of evil powers are all around…"

I cut him off, didn't need to here anymore.

"Give me a weapon!" I said defiantly.

"I'm going to get my friend back!"

To be concluded:


End file.
